On June 6, 2002, I accompanied my parents on Placer County's annual Agricultural Tour. This year, the tour organizers -- a number of public agencies -- joined with Sierra College to celebrate Japanese American agriculture as part of the college's Standing Guard project.

Over 80 of us traveled by bus through the countryside outside Loomis (where I grew up), Newcastle, Lincoln, Penryn, and Rocklin. We visited a large wholesale nursery on an old-time ranch, a bonsai nursery, and a specialty fruit ranch.

The Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn fed us a wonderful Japanese lunch, all prepared by the church members. Then we rode back to Sierra College to attend the groundbreaking of the Japanese American remembrance garden, a fitting end to Standing Guard.